An anthology of fanfics
by RoseScor90
Summary: Written for the forum wide competition! Read and Review!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters…**

The first entry for the forum wide competition!

The prompt was 'light'.

GO Slytherin!

Chapter 1: The beacon of hope

Draco paced the expanse of the Notts' garden in as many trajectories as possible, all the while cursing his 'friend', who had seemingly forgotten his existence at the arrival of his fiancé. He cursed Daphne Greengrass for choosing to come on the exact day he had. He cursed his mother for guilt tripping him into visiting. And indeed, he cursed the entirety of creation for conspiring against him.

Tired of idly roaming the place, he sat down on one of the benches by the natural fountain which was situated at the heart of the elaborate yet comfy garden that was a less known asset of the manor.

If it had been any one else, some one who hadn't as many shades of darkness and desolation in him, they wouldn't have wanted any company but for those the beautiful garden supplied.

Alas, it was Draco Malfoy, the boy who had seen too much and done too little, too soon.

He closed his eyes to the charm of nature before him, instead preferring to dwell in his world in which there were neither fragrant flowers nor refreshing fountains to restrain him from his goal of misery.

In reality, it had been a long time since he had lived. It had been a long time since he had felt. Be it joy, sorrow or even fury.

It had been a long time since his life and surroundings had turned into a black and white movie.

One that seemed cheerless and colorless.

One that he knew was not in his grasp.

One that he knew he had left behind, one he dared not hope for, fear of disappointment impeding him.

He saw the trees before him, how they would fall in a storm, or how they would decay in time.

He saw the flowers, how they would lose their petals until nothing would be left of them, how they would wilt away in a few days' time.

He saw the fruits, but not their shine. He only saw how they would scatter away when they fell from the tree.

He felt the cool breeze, how it would be detested when it freezes people over in winter.

He felt the warm ground underneath him. How it would be stamped on repeatedly until it was but a patch of useless dust.

Even in the fountain behind him, he saw only the danger of drying up during summer.

While he was so indulged in his barren musings, a slender, pixie-like figure was approaching him.

It was the first time Astoria Greengrass was seeing Draco Malfoy in person after the war and it was the least to say that she was surprised with the sight.

Gone was the child who had once had nothing to wish for in his life, the boy who had once turned his nose up at the people he thought inferior.

There was not even the slightest trace of the adolescent she had had the chance of meeting a few times at Hogwarts.

His albino face, though it had not lost any of its charm or appeal, was lacking in the usual proud expression it always sported.

His stance, once confident and dignified, was now defeated and dejected.

It gave her an unidentifiable pain to see that even his eyes, when they focused on her, lacked the usual arrogance and sharpness.

His aura had altogether lost its elegance and charisma, as if it was screened by a thick layer of this new, dull person he had become.

Whether fate had finally decided to save the poor guy from his grief, or it had been nothing but pure coincidence, she, instead of returning back to the confines of the manor which she ought to have done, approached him, even though he did nothing to acknowledge that he knew she was there.

"Hi"

The low hesitant voice so nearby shook Draco from his isolated stupor.

He stood up, involuntarily rather than out of respect, and greeted her.

"It seems you were deserted too" she appeared quite pleased to just sit with him and speak, contrary to most people who expected him to contribute to what he considered futile chit chat.

He folded his hands at the back of his head and leaned on the back of the bench, closing his eyes, and ears, to the girl nearby.

It was only when he realized, after quite some time had gone by, that she wasn't going away, did he attempt to make her leave.

"I have no interest in what you are speaking, Miss. Your absence would be better appreciated than your company"

"That's quite selfish of you, Malfoy. I'm here because I like this garden. Definitely not because you do or do not want me here"

Her sharp voice was what he had hoped for and, believing that she'd definitely leave now, he eagerly awaited the sound of her departing footsteps.

Hearing none, he opened his eyes, to look into the deep green orbs that were now stubbornly holding his gaze.

The expression in them was not hatred, or even anger or irritation.

She was looking at him, sizing him up, as a doctor would look at an injured child, or a vet a hurt pup.

He finally looked at her, as in really looked and not a mere observation.

Now that he had taken the effort, he couldn't help his brain which analyzed her features.

It was her eyes that drew him, in particular.

He had seen many whose eyes never suited them.

A petite face with too large eyes, a generous face with too small eyes, he had seen them all, and had learnt to ignore their allure.

But these eyes, they spoke a different story.

It was not the eye of one who had chosen the right or wrong during a war.

Not the eye of one who had had to choose loyalties.

It definitely held no mark of ever having faced anything other than delight and amusement.

"I never claim otherwise, Miss. I am selfish to the last degree, and it would do your merry self much good to stay away from my miserable person"

"Surely not! I have a certain penchant towards miserable people and I'm said to be quite effective in reforming them"

Her face was childishly resolute and he almost smiled. Though that didn't change his tolerance towards her.

"I have neither the desire nor the need for a reformation, Miss. I'm sure it would only result in turning you into a bleak version of your present ebullient self"

"Nonsense! And call me Astoria"

"Will it make you go away?"

"Certainly not! I plan to glue myself to this place until I learn of your mystery"

A slight smirk appeared on his face, and she thought she saw a glimpse of his snarky self in the gleam of his slate eyes before they shrouded over again.

"If that is what you perceive from my silence I must disappoint you. My life is no mystery to the world"

He tried turning back to his reflections, only to have her interrupt him again.

"Your demeanor is, though. You ought to be out there making amends rather than moping around in a dreary corner of the world"

"You seem to know what is good for everybody"

His remark had meant to offend her, thereby chase her away, but it had the opposite effect of intriguing her further.

"Are you always this snappy or are you not an evening person?"

She thought his sarcastic smile would be the only answer when he spoke.

"More than a few people thing I'm not even a person"

She detected a hint of grief and regret in his voice and knew she was going about it the right way.

"A few do think you are a person worth worrying about. Should you not care more about them? Isn't your degradation, because that is what you are doing to yourself, giving those surrounding you great distress?"

He realized that he had revealed far more than he should have already.

"I never asked them to"

His answers were becoming steadily curt, his fear of becoming hopeful surmounting.

"Yet, would you be happier if they turned their heads at you?"

"Ye…"

He had almost answered her in the affirmative.

It may have been the last chip in the block of his isolation, but, he couldn't lie to such an innocent and earnest query any longer.

"May be not all of them"

He let out a defeated sigh, as if he was indulging a clandestine secret to her.

"See? You care for them!"

"Just because I don't want them to hate me doesn't mean I care about any body"

"Atleast it's a start! Soon you'll just 'not hate them' and then it'll be 'may be I worry for just a few' and that's how you improvise"

"I have no intention of becoming the lovey-dovey idiot you tell me about"

"Oh! But I think you will. With time and the right kind of company"

"And that would be?"

"Optimistic people. Rather than those somber faced businessmen I've seen with you at Diagon Alley"

That was news to him. That she had seen him before; that she had observed him; had paid enough attention to know who he hung out with; that some one cared about him, was a new sensation.

One that succeeded, though not completely, in bringing out his old self.

His manners turned sure; posture steady; voice low, seductive and suave.

"And? Would you be in the list of acceptably optimistic people?"

"I'd be very near the top, sure…Huh?"

This was greeted with a full blown trademark Malfoy smirk.

"I see you do not need my encouragement any more. I must be leaving"

She left with nothing more than a wave and a smile, but Draco felt that his heart was light as a feather.

As she skipped out of the garden, Draco returned to his place on the bench but he wasn't the same person he had been before.

The garden surrounding him now presented a pleasing view.

He now heard the birds chirping, the sweet smell of the flowers and the slight spray of the fountain which cooled his sun warmed face.

He saw every thing around him in a new light.

The black and white movie was suddenly splashed with color.

He had always known there was a light at the end of every tunnel.

What he hadn't expected, was that it would be the radiance of a woman that created it.

A/n:Review!


	2. Just another wedding

Disclaimer: Not JK…

A/n: Written for the Forum wide challenge! The characters are Blaise Zabini (Slytherin) and Pansy Parkinson (also Slytherin)!

Chapter 2: Just another wedding

Blaise eyed the decorations around him with apparent distaste.

Weddings were never his thing.

Most of his memories of his mother were with her in a white gown and him in a tux. At a wedding.

He had seen one too many of his mother's, and all of them had been for nothing.

All the tears, all the emotions, all the love, gone to waste.

Though his mother had always told him, even on her deathbed, that his father had been her first and only love, a very noble and just creature, he did not have any recollection to support her claims.

That was the reason why he, Blaise Zabini, probably the most eligible bachelor in town, remained single.

A mistrust in marriages had led to a mistrust in love and consequently, in relationships.

He had been a true Slytherin, uncommitted, remote and unreachable.

He had managed to avoid several such, in his opinion, unfortunate events.

His mother's last but one marriage had been the last he had attended and even then, he had immediately disappeared after the ceremony.

He rolled his eyes as his friend let out a gasp seeing his fiancé come down the aisle.

_As if he hadn't seen her face before._

Draco's wedding had come as quite a surprise to him. He had never known his friend's interest in the youngest Greengrass. Who was he to tell these things anyway?

He was more worried about the dancing that would ensue and the speech he would have to give about his friend and someone he barely even knew.

Then there was the problem with avoiding the eye of every lady present, lest they ask him to dance.

Not that he was a bad dancer; it was the motive behind it that irked him.

The waterfall began as the two said their vows, and he looked on unaffected, as the handkerchiefs began making their appearances.

There was one face in particular he had wanted to see, and he was surprised to find it among the bridesmaids.

He had to admit, he was impressed with her will power.

It had been no secret at Hogwarts that Pansy Parkinson had been in love with the Malfoy heir.

And everybody had naturally thought that they'd marry after school.

He'd assumed Pansy would disregard the marriage, stay in the manor and curse the couple for all eternity.

But there she was, proving him wrong, dabbing at her eyes, as a normal bridesmaid would have.

He thought he saw a flash of jealousy in her eyes, but it could have been a trick of the light for there was no trace of it in the next instant.

Maybe she wasn't as composed as he had fathomed afterall.

He moved out of the way as the crowd gathered to watch who caught the bouquet.

He had no interest in whose wedding he'd have to avoid next.

Slipping away from the crowd which was now moving towards the couple to congratulate them, he stood at the end of the dance floor.

He sat at a table, watching the bride and groom's first dance.

He took a glass of butterbeer from the table, sipping it as he watched the drama unfold.

Dancing had always seemed to him more like a full length play rather than a simple event.

To him, it was the place where a person's true identity was revealed, where no one could hide behind a mask. The place where emotions were laid bare for an observer to pick up.

"Not the dancing type either?"

"No, not really. I much prefer to be the audience"

"The backdrop, you mean?"

He shrugged in response, knowing there was no use in objecting.

She was right, anyway.

"So, is it this particular one, or marriages in general that you hate?"

"Second"

He did not feel upto enduring her questions today.

A few minutes passed and there were no more enquiries from her.

Looking up, he saw that her eyes were fixed on the two that were now dancing in the centre of the floor.

"You wish you were the one there?"

"Huh?"

"Before Draco. You wish you were the one dancing with him"

"No. It doesn't mean as much to me as it once did"

"The war changed your perspective of him?"

"Among the many things it did, yes"

"Because he was associated with the…"

"No, that wasn't it. I knew what he was doing long before the task was assigned to him"

"Then?"

"I think it none of your business" her stance was guarded and her response clipped.

"Are you trying to pique my curiosity?"

"The world is not always about keeping you interested, Zabini"

"As if I haven't heard that before"

"I'm sure this is the first time you're hearing it from someone who means it"

She stood up from the table, then sat down abruptly.

"You'll tell me?"

"No. I just didn't see the reason to go away from this table. You don't vacate a house simply because a bug annoys you"

"I'm a bug?" His voice was highly amused.

That was the first time anyone had compared to him to anything less than an angel. Or a demon. He wasn't bothered with specifics.

"A very irritating one"

"Why the sudden snappiness?"

"Why the sudden interest in my life?"

"Lack of it, you mean"

"You are no one to judge that, Zabini"

"And who is?"

"You'd better shut up. Weasley isn't the only one good enough with the Bat Boogey and I'm sure you know the effects"

"You wouldn't attempt it at a wedding"

"Wouldn't I?"

"Can I distract you from that notion with a dance?"

He offered her his hand, which she avoided.

Her eyes were sharp as knives as they pierced into his.

"You'd better go back to your disinterested state now. Infinitely better for your well being"

She did stand up now.

"You running away?"

"From the devil yes"

Were her parting words as she walked to the table a few places from his own, and began speaking with her friends there.

Her face did not turn towards him once, neither was there any indication that she even remembered his presence there.

For the first time in his life, Blaise had met a woman who confused him with her constantly changing emotions and her lack of attention.

To him, who had claimed to be an expert on the emotions and thoughts of women, she presented a challenge without knowing it herself.

He watched her again, trying to discern her feelings.

Either she was a good actress or she really was not interested in him.

He was willing to bet on the second, though it gave a hard blow to his own esteem.

Without wanting to, and without realizing it, he was giving her the notice he had declined to the rest.

He had never expected to be interested in a woman, much less Pansy Parkinson and he most assuredly hadn't dreamt of it happening at a wedding.

It wasn't that he was falling for her.

Her pug nose and freakily pale face made sure of _that_.

But there was something curious about the way her eyes had slashed through his when she had glared at him.

It was as if they were screaming at him to pay attention though her words said otherwise.

May be he could escape from this eternal boredom.

He sensed her eyes on him, and looked up.

He couldn't hold back a smirk as he saw her glower at him and turn away.

This was sure to keep him entertained for a long time.

A/n: Review!


	3. Healer? Human? Hallucination?

Disclaimer: Not JK…

A/n: My entry for the third round is up! I've taken up all the words from the second set. Hope you like it!

Go Slytherin!

Chapter 3: Healer? Human? Hallucination?

Regulus Black kept looking back as he placed step after cautious step in the shadows, careful not to fall in the depressing light of the alley. The light kept flickering on and off, helping him immensely. He moved in the darkness with steps as light as a cat's, feeling the ground with his foot for some stray object before placing a step. The putrid smell of the alley burnt his nostrils, but there was no better place for him now than this dark, dismal lane.

Walking through Knockturn Alley was normally a cause for concern, but he seemed unusually desperate for secrecy, his apprehension apparent on his face as he continued to survey the place. For all his worry, the alley appeared completely deserted, but he knew it would be flooded soon. He'd have to escape quickly if he was to save his skin. The Dark Lord was not very forgiving of traitors who tried to butcher parts of his soul. He wondered how he had survived at all, with the Death Eaters hunting the entire wizarding world for him.

The silent pops soon answered his question. They were here. If he had any hope of escaping, it'd have to be by disapparating. And he'd have to act soon before they set up the anti-apparation jinx. One of the men in the mask raised his wand to shed light on the place, followed by the rest of the group. Regulus braced himself against the damp wall behind him to escape the floodlight.

He tried to imagine one place where he could stay hidden safely. His manor was out of the question. It was in all likelihood under constant watch. He briefly considered going to his brother's flat. Sirius would probably Avada him before he welcomed him in. That was no good. He thought of all his cousins. Bella and Cissy would surely turn him in. Andromeda was a possibility but he wasn't willing to risk his cousin's life. She was happy with her new family and he wouldn't spoil it by intruding.

"Cast the jinx. I'm certain he's here somewhere. We'll find him soon"

Lucius' command woke him up from his musings and he thought of the first place that came to his mind before he spun around and disapparated soundlessly. The familiar sight of the village near his former school was the first thing he saw as he stood up from the ground. The next thing he noted was the tiny brunette who was leaning over him looking worried.

A throbbing pain was developing in his head, and he immediately placed a hand on his forehead. The cool skin of his palm felt good on his scorching forehead and he closed his eyes trying to regain his perspective. So he had come to Hogwarts. As far as he could feel, all his body parts were intact. It was only his eyes that were threatening to shut down any minute now. The plan had gone well. He opened his eyes to see that the girl before him hadn't disappeared yet.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt? You seem quite pale?"

"I'm fine…" was all he was able to reply before the blackness that had been threatening him for so long enveloped him and he went under.

The next time he gained consciousness, he was lying on something soft and the surroundings seemed alien. He closed his eyes immediately, the light blinding him momentarily. The beam still hurt his eyes, and he could see the orange glow from behind his closed eyelids. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes slowly and found that the blinding light had been a lone candle which was illuminating the room partly.

A figure was sitting by the table on which the candle was placed, stirring something in a cauldron. He vaguely remembered seeing the girl before he had fainted. He felt thankful to her for not taking him to the village or worse, to the school. But where was he? He thought he had an inkling but he wanted to make sure.

"Where am I?" he jumped at the broken croak before he grasped that it was his own hoarse voice. The girl turned to him now, smiling reassuringly, while she read from a book she had perched on her lap. She was also juggling a scale, a vial and a spatula at the same time. She waited for a few minutes before she added a hazel colored powder to the cauldron and made the fire simmer.

She turned back to him now, her expression no more the serene smile it had been earlier. "What were you thinking apparating when you were hurt and exhausted?"

"I wanted to get away from…from wherever I was. Who are you? What is this place? How long have I been out?"

"One question at a time. Don't strain yourself so much. You're sill recovering from the injuries" as she walked to wards his bed and took his temperature, nodding to herself, she picked up another vial from the table and gave it to him. He drank the potion which was thankfully tasteless and odourless.

"Who are you?" he asked after he had swallowed the potion. She walked back to the table silently, clearly avoiding the question.

"I'm not a Death Eater, if that's what you fear" He couldn't help smirking to himself at that. As if he wouldn't have known at first sight if she had been one. "Then who are you?"

"A healer trainee. I just happened to be at Hogsmeade when I tripped upon your fainted form" she answered mechanically, back to her potion making.

"Do you always carry a cauldron with you?"

She looked at him warily and he immediately felt bad. She was the one helping him, with no apparent obligation either, and he was criticizing her backpack.

"No, actually. It was in the other room. This is the Shrieking shack. It's pretty stocked, if I do say so myself. I wouldn't have been able to aid you half as well if I hadn't had all these ingredients at hand"

"Oh, thank you! Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Around one am. You were out for just a few hours. How are you feeling? Does anything hurt?"

"No. I'm fine. I'm just feeling dizzy and a bit disoriented. Nothing else" he recited, glad that there hadn't been any lasting effects from last night's adventure.

She nodded again, saying "It's expected. It was a minor miracle you did not splinch yourself. Were you escaping from somewhere? There were traces of encountering an anti-apparition jinx…"

"No, no. It was just a coincidence. Nothing else. I wasn't running away from anything" he declined quickly, but his reply sounded slightly off. He only hoped she hadn't observed.

"Are you sure? You can trust me not to tell your secrets. But its fine if you don't want to" she asked calmly as she looked at him over her glasses, looking wise and intelligent.

"I'm sure" was his curt reply before he fell back on the pillows closing eyes to the sight of the interior of the shack. His form shuddered slightly at the prospect of being inside a haunted building, but this was most likely the safest place for him now. A bunch of misbehaving spirits wasn't his priority

"Something is wrong, isn't it? Something is horribly wrong" she said quietly. So quietly, that he could have ignored her question if he had wanted to, pretending to not have heard her.

"It's not your concern. Thank you very much for helping me out. Please do not ask me too many questions"

Either she understood the desperation behind his voice or she respected his request. She kept silent after that, only speaking when she was administering him a potion or checking his symptoms. A few hours had passed when she stood up to give him another potion. This one was different from the other ones and he became skeptic.

"What is that potion?" he asked while he stared at the transparent vial trying to identify the familiar looking potion.

"The Dreamless sleep draught. Your wounds have healed enough for you to take this. You'll be fine by daylight" She said as she handed him the vial. Regulus hesitated, wanting to thank her before he fell asleep.

"Thank you for all this help. I still don't understand why you are doing all this. I don't even know who you are. And I'm pretty sure you don't know me either. Thank you. If there is anything within my power I could do…"

"Just take care of yourself. That's all a healer expects of her patient" she replied as the comforting smile appeared once more on her face. She neither acknowledged nor denied his statements. Regulus drank the potion and closed his eyes. His breathing evened out soon.

She stood by his side for a while, studying his sleeping face like she had once before when they had been at Hogwarts. Regulus was fast asleep when she pushed away the hair veiling his forehead and kissed his forehead once, murmuring, "Be safe, Regulus. I love you"

Regulus woke up the next day to find the room empty, the warmth absent from it. He looked around, expecting her to be in one of the other rooms. After a futile search, he sat back down on the bed, wondering if it had all been a dream. But the cauldron on the table and the letter underneath it were proof enough that he hadn't been hallucinating.

He lifted the cauldron to remove the paper from underneath. One was a detailed schedule for the medicines he was to take. He placed them on one side carelessly. He'd decide if his life was worth taking potions over later. He read the other letter over and over again, though there were only a few words on it.

_If ever you need me again, you needn't look far. I'll be just around the horizon._

A/n: Review!


	4. A day like any other

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters.

A/n: Written for the fourth round of the Forum wide competition! The given character was Teddy Lupin and I chose Victoire Weasley (Ravenclaw) as the pair.

Go Slytherin!

Chapter 4: A day like any other

It was a day like any other in the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It wasn't even an exciting weekend. Not a dreaded Monday, nor an anticipated Friday, just a dull, boring Thursday.

Teddy Lupin was seated at the Gryffindor table amidst the usual noise that enveloped the table. His friends were arguing about something or the other, and he recognized a food fight in the making. But he couldn't be bothered with them. He was intently staring at the Ravenclaw table. Not the table, its occupants. Not the occupants, one in particular.

Just then the very object of his meditation turned in his direction. Noticing him, she smiled and waved, before turning away. She'd meet him sooner or later during the day anyway. There was no need for formalities between…them. Teddy was still unable to find a word encompassing enough to describe their relationship.

He had spent many hours trying to analyse where they stood. It was needless to say that he had come up empty handed. The only plausible conclusion he had come to was that sometime in the past fifteen years, they had crossed the stage when a single term could define them.

"Hey Eddy!"

There was only one person on the planet who ever called him by that name. He must have spaced out. There was no way he wouldn't have noticed her presence otherwise.

"Hey Vic! Ditched the Ravenclaws?"

"I just couldn't stay away from trouble. And the Gryffindor table just screams 'danger'"

She took a seat opposite him, quite comfortable at the Gryffindor table, unaffected. Teddy had always thought it unfair that she could be so at home here when her mere presence sent him off the cliff. He fought to sort himself out lest his metamorphmagus ability go out of control. As they always did around her.

Sensing her stare, he looked up to smile at her, reassuring her that everything was fine. She had a knack for knowing when something was wrong with him.

Noticing her restless eyes and flushed cheeks, he realized that she was apprehensive. She was being highly fidgety today, now that he noticed. She kept clasping and unclasping her hands, her laugh was nervous and her voice was slightly off. His friends seemed to be oblivious to all this though, and he wondered for a moment if he was just being a skeptic. If something was wrong, his intuition would tell him.

Their eyes locked across the table, and the danger sign began blaring in his brain. Something was up. Definitely. He raised an eyebrow and she ignored it, studiously listening to the person beside her who was describing Quidditch moves. This confirmed his suspicions. Victoire hated Quidditch and anything that had to do with it.

"Vic?" he called in a low voice, knowing she'd make out the impatience in his tone. She looked up at him, trying to school her expressions into normalcy. There were just a few cracks in her façade. She was becoming annoyingly good at keeping a poker face.

"I thought you wanted to finalize the patrol schedule?"

"Yeah, okay. We have enough time to finish within this free hour"

Her resignation was surprising as was the sigh. What was bothering her? They were already at the Gryffindor commonroom entrance before Teddy remembered that he had kept the papers in the Heads commonroom. They were heading in that direction when she spoke for the first time since leaving the hall.

"That was the lamest excuse you've ever come up with. Now they are gonna gossip"

"And they weren't before?" Teddy asked, knowing very well what she was talking about. It was well known that there was a running bet among the students about when the Heads would get together.

"I was worried. You seemed agitated. Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing is wrong. Let's go in" Victoire entered through the portrait hole before he could press further.

He entered the commonroom to find her standing before the fireplace, listening to the whispering of the portrait above the mantle, a smile on her face. Her face reminded him of the time in their childhood when she had first encountered a portrait of Albus Dumbledore. She had asked him the silliest of questions. She could be so child like sometimes. And then she'd do something that would throw him off balance, like the ardent look he was subjected to now. Whatever the portraits had said seemed to have made her better. The moment he let himself smile at her, he knew he had lost the reigns and her bright grin confirmed it.

"Your Ed again" she said, confusing him.

"And I wasn't before?"

She shook her head. "You weren't being yourself. Your hair wasn't changing"

"And that makes me 'not me'"

She shook her head again, this time in the affirmative. So she had noticed that his hair went berserk when he was with her. He hoped she hadn't figured out the reason yet.

"I like you this way, you know?" her voice was timid and unusually diffident while she said that. It was so unlike her that Teddy couldn't help but wonder what had brought such a change in her. Whatever it was, it must be something pretty severe. Victoire wasn't easily unsettled.

"What's up Vic?" he had crossed the room and was right infront of her now.

"No beating around the bush?" she asked, visible stalling.

"I hate suspense. And surprises. You know that"

"I do. Your pestering during Christmas time tends to leave its mark".

"So? What is it about?"

"You aren't going to like this"

"I'd much rather know than not" he said, gently urging her to continue.

"You know how I hate being stereo typed" Teddy nodded, trying to keep his head clear and assumptionless.

"It's just that my situation is so cliché! I don't want it to be! I hate fairytales!"

He smirked now. He knew she was in denial. The last part of it, atleast. Afterall, he knew where she kept her Muggle books collection and almost all of them were fairytales.

"Don't" Teddy raised a questioning eyebrow, though an all knowing grin broke out on his face. "You will not tell me otherwise"

"If you want to delude yourself that bad" he shrugged his shoulders, waiting for the slap that was sure to come. But this day was full of surprises. She only whispered, "If only I could…" before she turned mute.

He was genuinely concerned now. Something was horribly wrong with her. He lifted her chin with his hand making her face him. Her eyes were laughing, as if she was in on some secret he didn't know. They were also brimming with unshed tears. He hugged her close to his chest, the way he always did when he comforted her. Her voice was muffled in the fabric of his cloak. "I'm being paranoid, aren't I? And I'm frightening you too"

"It's just me being too fussy, Vic. You know how I tend to see too much into things" he said, repeating her favorite words about him.

"Over observant" she chuckled as she hugged him back, her worries forgotten. His beliefs were disproved when he felt the moisture of the tears on her cheek. Shocked, Teddy pulled her back, watching with mounting anxiety as she tried unsuccessfully to control her tears.

"What's wrong Vicky?" Seeing his alarming look sent her into a fresh wave of tears, and she hugged him fiercely, exclaiming, "Oh, Teddy! I wish things could stay the same! I wish it could all end well, but…"

"What? What is it?" He asked fervently, only thinking of ridding her of her tears now. No matter what it took. His own priorities and emotions were pushed to the back as her face took center stage in his mind.

"Teddy, I love you" Her voice was a breathy whisper as she said it, and he almost missed it. Almost.

"I love you too, Vic. Now what's the problem?" his voice was impatient as he looked down at her for explanation.

"That is the problem, Ed! Don't you see? I'm in love with you! I can't avoid it any longer. It was getting too painful for me to bear. I'm sorry if I upset you. I know I sound horribly like a sappy romantic heroine but, that's the truth. Ed? Ed? I understand that you don't…"

No she didn't understand. She didn't understand how he was imploding. How each bit of his heart was bursting into a thousand fireworks. But he had to say something or she'd make the worst of assumptions. So he did the only thing that would explain to her the fastest. He kissed her.

He could feel her surprise, delight and the passion as he hugged her close, his hands circling her waist. She held onto him fiercely, as tears flowed freely down her cheeks. This time though, they were ones of happiness, and they were joined by his own lone streak of tear.

He had never understood why people cried when they were happy before. He had seen an unfortunately large number of sappy flicks, thanks to Victoire. But that had been the one part he had never understood. Until this day. He had never appreciated the value of that one teardrop that expressed more than a life time of words could.

"I love you too, you know?" Teddy said as they finally pulled apart and Victoire laughed a relieved laugh. His face lit up at the sight. Her sorrow had been too much for him to bear.

"I know that. Now. So they were all right afterall"

"Who?"

"All those people who said we would get together. Now they are going to make a big spectacle of us. We'll never have peace now" she complained as she scrunched her face up childishly.

"Well, there's going to be an economic imbalance in the school tomorrow. I don't think anyone will bother us very much"

"There were that many people who bet on us?"

Teddy just nodded his head and hugged her closer, if that was even possible, resting his head on hers while he stroked her back. He had never been happier than with his arms around the woman he loved.

And just like that, what had been just another day had turned into the most significant day in Teddy Lupin's life.

A/n: R&R!


	5. The answer

Disclaimer: Not JK…

A/n: The chosen quote was "Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life... They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn't your own anymore."

It spans five lines but tat and Schermionie gave me permission to use five lines instead of four! Thank you so much!

And the character I chose was Lily Potter(Gryffindor)

GO Slytherin!

Chapter 5: The answer

I should have known James Potter meant trouble, right from the very first day I met him and he dumped dragon dung (don't ask me how he got his hands on _dragon dung_) on my head. And I, true to my over sensitive nature, decided to take brutal revenge on him. That was the impressive history behind the infamous Potter and Evans feud, just in case you were wondering.

Then there was the inexorable enmity between Sev and 'them'. I snort at the mere thought of the name for their group of hooligans, even though it has been five years since they came up with it. Though the word Marauders horribly fit the way they, meaning James and Black, strutted around the school.

It had been an all out war and students tended to run and hide (and I'm not joking) whenever James and I fought. Yeah, we were that bad. Though I remember everything that we fought about, I truly can't remember when my heart got involved in this mess. It was like one moment my mind was screaming at me to cut it out and just murder him already and then, my heart decides it cares too much to see him hurt. I mean seriously, it could have given me a small warning! Then I could have had time to quarantine myself! Because, seriously, which sane person falls in love with their worst nemesis?

James, apparently, or so he claims. But then, I did always say that he wasn't right in the head, didn't I? And this was going out of hand too fast. This 'I love Lily so much' tirade has to end and it has to end today. Right this instant. Now you're probably thinking I'm over reacting, right? You wouldn't be so sure, if you'd had to endure three years of constant asking out and gifts and notes and flowers and what not. He had toned it down a bit, alright a lot, this year but that is yet to give me the relief it should have. May be it hasn't sunk in. Yeah, that must be it. That must be the explanation for the resentment I feel.

But there were these times when I was sure he was going to ask me out. He'd open his mouth and his eyes would lighten a bit, and then he'd close up, and the moment would pass. This was more disconcerting than the times he used to ask me out. And there were the stares. The way he stares at me unwaveringly, as if I was the most engrossing thing in the world. Which couldn't be true, except for the gross part.

"Hey there Lily" he was, as usual, leaning on the Great Hall door. I wonder how it just doesn't open up. Would he fall back if it did? Now, wouldn't that be a sight worth seeing? I giggled before I could stop myself and he grinned in return as he stepped away from the door.

"Something funny?" his right eyebrow was raised and his head was tilted slightly to the left. He was standing still but there was the air of animation surrounding him that seemed to radiate energy. His eyes gazed restlessly, and I knew he was dying to begin patrol. Not in the 'oh I'm so responsible that I've to be perfect in my duties' sense. More like 'let's get this over with so I can go cause trouble' sense.

I just shook my head, turning to walk along the hallways. He followed me and was soon walking casually beside me, whistling some chirpy tune that had neither rhyme nor reason. I think he was making it up.

"How's Remus doing?"

"Fine. He wanted to see you but seeing as he is stuck in the Hospital Wing and you didn't come to visit him…"

"I just had too much on my mind. Tell him I'll meet him tomorrow before breakfast"

"And when am I to tell him that? Tomorrow?" he grinned that lopsided grin of his that seemed to scream out trouble. And the dimple didn't make him seem anymore innocent.

"Oh, you don't fool me James. I know you're going to sneak in after patrol. Just tell him then, will you?"

"Ah! You know too many of our secrets. I'm afraid I'll have to silence you before you reveal any of them" he shook his head, as if he was about to so something that gave him a lot of grief. Why did he have to be so adorably dramatic!

"Should I be afraid?"

"Very. Walking alone at night in the deserted corridors, with a Marauder! Have you no sense of self preservation?" I chuckled and he seemed pleased that he had made me laugh. But I wasn't wary in the slightest. In fact, I felt safer in his presence that anywhere else. He had a vibe of security that instantly calmed me down.

"I suppose that is suicidal. I mean you guys are magnets for trouble. What if a dragon sweeped down and tried to burn me?"

"I'd jump before you and take down the dragon" he made elaborate sweeping motions in the air, as if he was fighting off a dragon with a sword. Seeing my smirk, he asked, "What, you don't believe me?"

"Let's just finish patrol, James" I tried to shrug it off and walk past him. James being the hard headed idiot that he was, refused to let things go like a sensible person. He grabbed my wrist lest I escape. And I had to admit, I would have tried to if I could have. Now I had no choice but to look at him. He wasn't taller than me by much, but his presence overwhelmed me, now that he was standing so close to me and his hand was grasping mine. How could he not feel the sparks that were shooting through my hand? I wanted him to let go and hold on at the same time. I hated being this confused.

"You don't believe me, do you?" his voice was low and hoarse, and I certainly did not like the way my heart sprinted at the sound. He was waiting for my answer, but I did not know it myself. As a general rule, I never trusted anybody. With good reason. The last time I had let my guard down; I had ended up in one of the deserted corridors of the castle, heartbroken from my break up. The memory served only to increase my dilemma by dragging up the images of that night when James had found me and comforted me. It had been a bit awkward between us after that, until he had jinxed my potion to turn into amortentia (earning me a week's worth of detention) and the war had recommenced.

And so you can probably guess why I was so wary about trusting people. Especially unstable, easy going, 'I wear my emotions on my sleeve' kind of people like James.

But there was another part of me, situated somewhere in my heart, a part that was becoming quite hard to ignore in the past year, that was telling me that he wouldn't have chased after me for so many years if he hadn't really liked me. It was telling me to take a risk once again. A risk I knew would mean disaster if it did not end well. James seemed to sense my conflict or may be he thought he saw an answer in my eyes. Either way, he let go of me, taking a few steps back. I felt cold. When had the weather turned this bitter?

"I guess I knew the answer already. I'm sorry I hurt you" he said, indicating my wrist. But that pain was nothing compared to this. He was walking backwards now, still looking at my face. It upset me to see the wounded look in his eyes, as if some one was pricking my heart with pins. Thousands of them.

"Wait!" His steps halted, though he didn't make any move to walk back to where I was standing.

"If it's patrol you're worried about, Lily, I'll take care of it"

"Why do you never give me time to talk? You just assume too many things, James. First that I wanted to be humiliated before every single student in the school, then that confessing your love in the great hall would make me agree to go out with you, then that staring at me conspicuously was better than asking me out, which it wasn't. You could have just asked me, you know? Without all these extravaganzas. I might have been more inclined to agree"

He was by me in a flash, literally, and his eyes were so warm and so happy. Now I knew why I had felt so resentful. This smile, this joy was what I'd wanted to see in his eyes. Not the disappointment, not the frustration, not the sorrow. All the pieces fell in place now. The jigsaw which was my life was now, at last complete with the most important piece being him. "You would have agreed if I'd just asked?" his voice was incredulous but his eyes were the same smoldering hazels as before.

"May be not during the first few years. I was too intent on planning your execution to notice" I smiled at the thought. It all seemed silly now. He laughed with me, probably remembering his own memories of the time. I liked the sound of his laugh, I realized. It was so open, so carefree a sound that I couldn't help feeling his happiness resonate in me.

"I never intended to humiliate you Lily. I just …well I just wanted you to notice me. You were always reading something or the other or listening to class, or doing homework. Pranking seemed the only way to get your attention…I know it sounds pretty darn stupid…" It was stupid. But it was the way he had been and I wasn't going to hold him for that.

"Then I realized irritating you didn't help one bit…" I nodded now, adding "bobotuber pus wasn't the most romantic of gifts" His grin, if it was possible, widened.

"That why I tried giving you better ones but your reactions never changed so I thought may be, I was overdoing things"

"May be?"

"Oh cut me some slack, I only had Sirius to give me advice! Remus refused to help me. saying something about figuring it out myself and saving a friend's sanity"

"You followed Black's ideas? No wonder they were so stupid!"

"So I stopped asking you out all the time, but I couldn't help looking at you. I mean who could? You're just too beautiful to look away from…" I looked own, unable to look into the adoration in his eyes. My face was flushed and it was suddenly too difficult to breathe.

"I guess it did help in the end, huh?"

"May be it did. Or may be I just took pity on you"

"Must be my lucky day today" he said as his hands held my cheeks as if I was breakable or something. Hearing my heartbeat, it wouldn't be considered impossible.

"Will you go out with me, Lily?"

"Yes"

My answer was finally right. Finally it was the answer he had hoped for. The answer my stupid brain had been holding against. The answer my heart had been striving for.

A/n: Review!


	6. A denial and a breakdown

Disclaimer: Not JK…

A/n: Written for the sixth round of the Forum wide competition. I was left with Hufflepuff, having used Slytherin(Blaise Zabini) in the second round, Ravenclaw(Victoire Weasley) in the fourth round and Gryffindor(James Potter) in the fifth round. This one is in Tonks' POV

Go Slytherin!

Chapter 6: A denial and a breakdown

It was very dark in the room I was in. I tried squinting my eyes to help them focus. Then I found that the thing that was obstructing my view was not the dark, but a veil. I already knew I was lying on something soft, probably a bed, and the veils around me must have been the bed hangings. I tried to sit up, but the resultant pain was so acute that I fell back with a sharp cry. Or that was what I had tried to do. But the quick gasp that I heard was too weak to be my voice. Had I become that fragile? I cringed at the thought.

I tried to remember the past events. All I could see was the evil leer of Bellatrix Black, and her unnerving cackle. I had been battling her! Had I lost? What had happened to the others? Where they here too? Were we hostages here? Where was 'here'? Before I could panic, I heard voices in the distance, approaching in my direction.

"I heard her voice, Ma'am. She must be awake" the low but firm voice of Remus was assuring whoever was with him. So Remus was alive and well! That one realization lifted a burden off my heart. A burden I hadn't known was there before it was lifted. I waited impatiently now, wishing they'd hurry so I could know what was going on. This being in the dark was killing me.

"That is good, Mr Lupin. If she is awake, she'll be fit enough to be released within a few days" that must be the person he was talking to. Must be a healer. The hangings to my bed were pushed apart and his face was the first clear thing I saw. He smiled at me, a wry, relieved smile, before he let the healer behind him step up. He stepped aside to let the healer do her work. The healer, who I now noticed was waving her wand in complex patterns, nodded to herself as a levitated quill scribbled on a notepad.

"How are you feeling?" her eyes were kind and caring. Personally I thought she'd make a terrific healer, with her calm manner and soft words.

"I'm fine. Except for the stiffness" I replied. Now that I was fully conscious, I realized that the pain that I had felt previously was nothing but the stiffness that came from remaining motionless for long. I tried sitting up now, and was I was able to very easily. That was when the healer before me started circling. I held my head steady in my palms, eyes closed, willing the spinning to go away. I peeked after a few minutes and the world remained stationary. The healer before me was smiling at me, and she now said, "Take it easy. You've been out for a few days. You're sure to feel frail and delicate"

She left the room, leaving me alone with Remus. He had now settled himself in the chair by my bed, looking out the window before it. I, for my part, looked around. The bed hangings were completely gone now, courtesy of the helpful healer. There were several beds in the room which I now recognized as a ward at St. Mungo's. I'd been here once before to visit when Charlie had been admitted here. The room was pretty deserted now though and it was oddly calm. The sun was setting outside, its orange rays decorating the room. I turned finally to the person beside me, the one thing I knew would hold my attention more than any other thing here or anywhere in the universe.

The sun rays gave a bright glimmer to his amber eyes, but the expression in them was so contrasting that it appeared wrong there. I cleared my throat to get his attention. He turned to me slowly, as if he dreaded tearing his eyes away from the bland scenery outside. His eyes did not meet mine, but focused on a spot beside my head.

He tried to smile, but it was very apparent that he was failing. I suddenly knew something, somewhere had gone wrong. Someone was not well. I wanted to ask him, wanted to give him a reason to talk, vent out his emotions, but I was afraid. I was, afterall, no Gryffindor. So I began with the easiest question. Or what I thought was the easiest one. "How are you?"

"I'm okay. You should probably lie down. Don't strain yourself too much" he said, and I appreciated the fact that he hadn't said he was fine. He, atleast, wasn't ignoring his fears. I shook my head lightly. I wanted too many answers to be able to rest now. "What happened out there? I suppose I was hit with Bellatrix's spell?"

His face spasmed with pain at the mention of the name and I fought to control my urge to ask him what was wrong. I would get to the sensitive parts later. "How come you are here? Where is everyone else?"

"At their homes, I suppose. Now that the Ministry has accepted the revivification of you-know-who…"

"The Ministry has?"

"They couldn't go against the eye witnesses. Yes, he-who-must-not-be-named did make an appearance. He fought with Dumbledore. Harry…"

"Is Harry fine? Did he duel you-know-who again?"

"Yes, I suppose Harry is fine, in a way. No, Harry did not duel him. Dumbledore took care of that" Remus dismissed, as if the matter was inconsequential. What could have been so important that had made the appearance of you-know-who petty? And what did me mean by 'in a way'?

"What do you mean 'in a way'? Was someone hurt?" There! I had now asked the question I had decided to postpone. I was no good at holding my tongue anyway.

"No. Noone was hurt. I don't suppose he felt any pain when he fell in. The veil is only supposed to drag you in…" he was talking to himself now, and I had an intense feeling that he was trying to hide from me. He was being factual and curt. Remus was the kind of person who manages to infuse some sort of emotion in everything he says or does.

"Who?" I asked, already knowing I dreaded the answer.

"Si…" he trailed off now, shaking his head. He stood up suddenly. He sat down just as abruptly, holding his head between his palms over his ears. Not in the way I had held it a while before, but as if there was a very loud screeching sound in the room and he was protecting himself against it. As if someone was roaring in his ears. As if he was unable to escape something. "Remus…"

He did not lift his head, he still kept shaking it, but said, "Ask me something else. Anything else. Please…" It was a plea I could never ignore.

"What about what happened after I blacked out? What happened to Bella.."

"No. Not Bellatrix. Not Bellatrix. Something else…" his voice kept increasing in volume, as if he was trying to drown out something with his own voice.

"Did my parents visit me?" I asked, wondering if it was a safe enough topic.

"Everyday. They left just a few minutes before you came to" the answer was mechanic.

"How long was I out?"

"A couple days, a week, I don't know. Time doesn't hold much significance to me now" his voice was dead, that of an unhinged instrument, incapable of any humane emotion. Atleast he wasn't shaking so badly now.

"Why are you here? Not that I don't appreciate it, but…"

"I wanted to stay here with you" he answered, and his head lifted just a bit before it went back between his hands.

"Why?" there was a definite sliver of hope in my voice and I had no doubt that he would have heard it too.

"I couldn't bear to meet people. I needed to be alone. Dumbledore wanted someone to look out here. I offered" I felt as if my heart, which had been floating like a balloon, had been pricked. He continued before I could stop him, "Or it may be that I wanted to stay close to the only person that was left…" he left the sentence hanging. So was my heart. Did that mean he cared for me too?

He lifted his head now, and what I saw shook me beyond words. He had never been the most cheerful of persons but I had never seen him this…traumatized. His eyes were mere hollows, unhindered by the soul that had once resided there. There was no way I could relate his face to the one I had known. The one that had had looked through the curtains minutes before. I was astonished. This was what he had always been hiding from me? This side of him that had seen the loss of friends, family, one after the other? The one who had faced nothing but rejection and prejudice all his life? The one who had mourned all his life for all the things that had gone wrong that had never been his doing? The one who had given up, the one who had refused me, afraid he'd cause me danger like he had for his friends?

"Remus…" I lifted a hand in his direction. I did not know why I was pleading. For his sake or for my own? He stared at the hand for a moment, contemplating. I knew this was the last chance. He'd never reveal himself like this again. The wound would soon close up with no chance of healing. I wouldn't let another scar mar his heart, or the shreds of it that was left.

"This isn't right, Nymphadora" he said, using my first name which he knew I hated. But I wasn't going to be distracted by this now. He could call me the Giant Squid if it would he help.

"It's not a forever, Remus. You need someone to care for you. Someone who would be strong enough to hold you together. You've been the rock long enough. I'm offering to be the same for you. Your rock…"

"Why should you, Dora? Why should you, such an unblemished, faultless person, waste your life on me? I'm over. A completed book. Pity it was a tragedy but I've learnt to live with it. Please, don't try to begin a new chapter" he was beseeching, and I knew I now had the choice in my hands. I could let him go, battered as he was, and he'd be happy. But my heart gave a lurch at the very thought. It, atleast, was sure what it wanted.

"Doesn't what I want count? Doesn't it matter to you?"

"It does. Too much. But what's right and what you want are always two very different things"

"Did you always choose what was right?"

"No. Once, I slipped. And look where that led to" That was the most shocking thing that I'd ever heard. What had he done that he regretted so? Because that was what his voice was filled with.

"What did it lead to?"

"I'll admit it gave me happiness. For a little while. I had friends who accepted me for what I was. People who saw past the monster in me. But, that didn't last long, did it?"

"What are you talking about? Who do you mean? The Potters? That was not your fault!"

"It was my fault, don't you see? I put them in danger. Why else would you-know-who have concentrated on them? They weren't the only talented wizards out there! They wanted the werewolves on their side. I refused. They do not take to that easily. And now, the only person I had whom I could call a friend, gone!" He was in a frenzy now, rushing over words. Words I couldn't believe he was saying. Who did he mean? The only living person who was close enough to him was Sirius and…I gasped. Sirius was dead. Sirius Black was _dead?_ No it just couldn't be. But the answer was in his eyes. That were staring at me now, waiting for my reaction.

I did not know what I was feeling. Shocked, yes. Mourning for Sirius, it hadn't set in yet so, no. But there was this overflowing feeling that was seeping out. It went out to the person before me.

He did not disregard my hand this time, and I wrapped my arms around him as tightly as I could, keeping him close. I did not do anything to console him, because his wasn't the kind of grief that could be washed away with soothing words. His entire being shook, but there were no tears. I knew he was letting everything go. Every single twinge of misery he had held onto himself, every single lament, every piece of him that he had struggled to hold onto. Underneath everything, he was just a boy. A boy who was afraid of himself. A boy who longed for affection, just as every other being in this world did.

He held onto me like I was his lifeboat, and I did not mind. This was what I'd wanted for no long. Of course not quite in this situation but, he needed someone to be there for him. Everybody did. The trembling slowed after a while, and he lifted his head from my shoulder to look at me with clear eyes. This was the first time I was seeing him this close. The scars on his face, which had seemed a minor detail from afar, were his major feature now. I traced my palm absently along one that ran from his temple to his chin. He closed his eyes, and sighed. I knew the moment had passed.

I did not object when he moved away, but my hands felt suddenly empty and misplaced. I laid them uselessly on my lap. "Nymphadora…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have frightened you so. I just don't know what came over me. I just…"

"You needed to mourn. You couldn't have kept it all in for much longer. Good thing it was me"

"My reputation is intact, eh?" His tone wasn't joking. But there was lucidity in his tone that was reflected in his eyes.

"How is Harry coping?" I asked, unable to resist. I really needed to learn to keep my mouth shut. But the question did not seem to affect him as much as I had imagined. "He's devastated, of course. I heard he even destroyed Dumbledore's office in his anger. But he has Ron and Hermione to help him. He'll recover in time, I suppose"

Harry would, but would Remus? It took him a great deal of effort to say this, I knew. It was apparent from the way he stared at the ceiling, without looking at me. Not once had he used Sirius' name. He stood up now, towering over me as he came near the bed. "I should get going now. Moody will be here to take over. I wanted to thank you. For, you know…" He seemed embarrassed, a first for him.

"You're welcome. Will you be visiting again?"

"I'll be back in the morning, but you'll be released soon so, we'll see. Tonks, you know this doesn't mean…"

"That you are okay with us, I know. But I suppose you should know this. I'm not giving up, ever"

He smiled an empty smile and only said, "Get well soon" before he walked away. Somehow, that sounded like a yes to me. Was I delusional or what?

A/n: Review!


	7. Self dethroning of the Prince

Discalimer: Not JK…

A/n: Written for the seventh round of the forum wide competition. The pairing given was Draco/Daphne and so I decided to break Draco/Pansy. If you were wondering, this happens in their seventh year after Draco returns from Christmas holidays.

Go Slytherin!

Chapter 7: Self dethroning of the Prince of Slytherin

Draco woke up in the middle of the night, drenched with sweat. The dorm was unnaturally cool, what with it being the middle of winter and the dorm being under the lake. But that did nothing to calm him. Draco shook his head to clear it up, to make the lingering images of the terrible nightmare go away. They never did. He stood up from the bed, giving up on the attempt to go back to sleep. He knew precisely what awaited him there. Ignoring the snores coming from the dorm, he descended the stairs to sit down on the couch. Sit down, not flop or slump, sit. Because Malfoys never displayed such inelegance. Not even when they were at the brink of insanity. Not when they were already too far gone to even look back. And Draco did not need to look too far to find his errors. Grievous ones. It was too late anyway.

It didn't matter that he did not want to be a part of this mess anymore. It did not matter that he was only seventeen. It did not matter that he was absolutely terrified. He had to keep living in the world he had made for himself. Or, the world his father had made for him which he had no choice but to accept. His father had laid the bed for him and he'd better lie in it by himself or he'd be thrown in.

There were no flames in the fireplace of the commonroom, which suited him just fine. That's what was left of him now. A heart with no flame of hope. A burned out heap of tissues. A soul that had been scalded over and over again until there was nothing left but a charred mass of nothing worthwhile. It amazed Draco how people still saw him as the invincible Malfoy heir. How students still move out of his way lest he inflict something painful on them. Did they not see that he did not have the strength to be malicious anymore? Did they not recognize the emptiness in his eyes? Did not feel the despair that would surely have been radiating from him?

Of course they didn't. Nobody ever did. Because they knew better than to associate themselves with the youngest Death eater. Because they saw him as nothing but a walking, sneering Dark mark. Not that he'd have let people get closer to him. It wasn't in his nature to open up to people.

Draco leaned his head on the armrest of the couch, lying flat on it, closing his eyes. Lying there, in the large commonroom, he could convince himself. Delude himself into thinking that he hadn't been to the Manor that Christmas. That he hadn't been a helpless witness when the Mudblood had been tortured. Pretend that he hadn't heard her scream. Act as if it hadn't bothered him at all. Within the confines of the commonroom, he could believe that Daphne was right. That he wasn't inherently evil and that he was right in not helping the Mudblood. But that illusion never lasted long. Morning came and he had to meet the students again, look at their terrified expressions, and he knew she was wrong. He was a monster and there was no escaping it. Then of course, there was the complicating situation between him, Pansy and Daphne.

He did not want to make up his mind. Hell, he did not even want to have this problem on top of everything else. And yet there it was, the ever present dilemma. The one decision he was left to make and he messed up. And so the images of his girlfriend and his crush came around in his mind, until he couldn't bear it any longer.

First arose the, he supposed Pansy was good looking in her own kind of way, pretty face of his current girlfriend. She had stayed by him even after he had failed the Dark Lord's task. Always admiring him in whatever he did, always convincing herself that he was some kind of tin god and she, his subject. He knew breaking up with her would be plain cruel after all that she had done for him but, when had he been hailed as a kind hearted person? She would realize the truth someday. Actually, Draco had a feeling she already suspected something. But she seemed content enough in tagging along with his dreary self, happy enough to come back to him even after he had taken quite a few snaps at her. That was exactly what made him feel, dare he say it? guilty about cheating on her, atleast in the mind.

And then there was Daphne, the one who had stood by him as a friend, always silent, always understanding, always painfully honest. She was the exact opposite of Pansy if ever there was one. How they remained friends was still a mystery to him. And he often wondered if they would stay the same if he broke up with Pansy and dated Dpahne. Though there was no chance for that. Daphne, content as she was in being his soundbox and companion, denied that she felt anything towards him other than a small bit of friendly affection. Which was a very intense emotion to confess about, as far as Slytherins were concerned. But there was absolutely no way to contain himself on the matter. He wasn't a playboy by nature, regardless of what the rumor mill of Hogwarts spun about him. But this, it was troubling him way more than it should. She wasn't supposed to be this captivating. It was supposed to be him that would be the admired. It shouldn't be her that should be declining to date him. Wasn't he supposed to be the confident one? But he couldn't go against her wishes. Not when she had helped him in those days when he had just returned from the Christmas holidays. She had helped him mend. There wasn't much she could have done but she had tried when others had just been content that the prince of Slytherin had dethroned himself. He chuckled at the thought. Noone who had seen him convulse that night would ever associate him with anything better than fragile and breakable.

Draco's thoughts continued thus in an endless circle until he heard footsteps come down the stairs. She was wearing her usual burgundy nightgown, an act of rebellion in itself. Whenever he had told her that she had just shrugged and said, "I dunno what's wrong with this. What's in a color?" She smiled seeing him there, as if him lying there in the middle of the night was completely normal. He sat up to give her room, but she sat on the couch beside him. Always at a safe distance.

"Pansy's being sulkier than normal now-a-days" she said, looking closely at his face for a reaction. A subtle warning that I should treat her better. That I shouldn't waste my time hoping.

"I'm not bothered" I replied off-handedly, though I knew I was lying.

"That's precisely what she's moping about. That you never pay any attention to her anymore"

"You know why I do that, Daphne"

"And you know very well that it is impossible, Draco. I think of you as nothing more than a friend. It is a complete waste of time for you to be hooked up over me. I feel bad about coming in between the two of you, as it is. You aren't my only friend, you know?" she appeared honest, and that hurt more than anything else. Of course that never showed on my face. My mask was still too securely in place.

"Doesn't change anything, Daphne. It's you I like. I admit it's a bit harsh on my part, ignoring Pansy like this but do you think she could be reasonable if I were to break up with her?"

"So? You do this behind her back? That's cheap and low, Malfoy. Even for you" she said as she suddenly stood up and left for her dorm, her gown swishing behind her. Neither of them noticed the figure behind the staircase, shedding silent tears.

Her world had just been shredded apart and she did not know how to fix it. And she had thought the Crucio was the most painful thing in the world. How lucky Granger was to have escaped from the Malfoys with nothing but a few pain inflicting curses.

A/n: Review!


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